Provided are microbial strains and functional homologs of same and compositions comprising same. Also provided are methods of manufacturing microbial compositions and uses thereof in improving agricultural traits.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
. A preparation comprising a microbial EVO40185 strain, deposited as Accession Number 42939 at NCIMB, or a functionally homologous strain,
. The preparation ofcomprising at least one of a stabilizer, a tackifier, a preservative, a carrier, a surfactant, an anticomplex agent and a combination thereof.
. The preparation of, wherein said functionally homologous strain has substantially the same coding and/or non-coding sequence order as that of said microbial strain homologous thereto.
. The preparation of, wherein said microbial strain or functionally homologous strain are characterized by the phenotypes disclosed in Tables 9, 10, 20, 21, 23, 25 and 26 with respect to said EVO40185 strain.
. The preparation of, wherein said microbial strain or said functionally homologous strain is present in an amount which is sufficient to interact, colonize and/or localize in said cultivated plant.
. The preparation of, wherein said microbial strain or said functionally homologous strain is present in an amount which is at least 100 CFU or spores.
. The preparation of, wherein said functional homologous strain comprises a genomic nucleic acid sequence which comprises sub-genomic sequences as set forth in SEQ ID NOs: 166-170.
. A composition comprising the preparation of, and further comprising an agriculturally effective amount of a compound or composition selected from the group consisting of a fertilizer, an acaricide, a bactericide, a fungicide, an insecticide, a microbicide, a nematicide, a pesticide, a plant growth regulator, a rodenticide, and a nutrient.
. A formulation comprising the preparation of.
. The formulation of, selected from the group consisting of an emulsion, a colloid, a dust, a granule, a pellet, a powder, a spray and a solution.
. The formulation of, being substantially stable for at least 180 days at 37° C. or 4° C.
. The formulation of, being liquid, solid, semi-solid, gel or powder.
. A microbial culture comprising the preparation of.
. The microbial culture of, being at least 99.1% pure.
. The preparation of, being soil-free.
. A method of treating a cultivated plant or portion thereof, said method comprising contacting the plant or portion thereof with a preparation comprising a microbial EVO40185 strain, deposited as Accession Number 42939 at NCIMB, or a functionally homologous strain,
. A method of improving an agricultural trait of a cultivated plant, the method comprising:
. The method of, wherein said contacting comprises contacting the plant's surrounding.
. The method of, wherein said contacting is selected from the group consisting of spraying, immersing, coating, encapsulating, and dusting.
Complete technical specification and implementation details from the patent document.
This application is a Division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/965,324 filed on Jul. 28, 2020, which is a National Phase of PCT Patent Application No. PCT/IL2019/050095 having International Filing date of Jan. 23, 2019, which claims the benefit of priority under 35 USC § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/623,029 filed on Jan. 29, 2018. The contents of the above applications are all incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein in their entirety.
The XML file, entitled 103894ReplacementSequenceListing.XML, created on Jul. 26, 2025 comprising 404,026 bytes, submitted concurrently with the filing of this application is incorporated herein by reference. The sequence listing submitted herewith is identical to the sequence listing forming part of the international application.
The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to plant microbial preparations, compositions and formulations comprising same and uses thereof.
Global demands for food and fiber will increase up to 70% by 2050. This increase in agricultural productivity needs to be obtained from existing arable land, under harsher climate conditions and with declining soil and water quality.
Research is thus very much focused at improving any of nutrient acquisition, disease resistance, resilience to abiotic stresses and fitness in novel environments.
Conventional farming that uses chemicals in the form of fertilizers and pesticides has substantially increased agriculture productivity and contributed immensely to food access and poverty alleviation goals. However, excessive and indiscriminate use of these chemicals has resulted in food contamination, negative environmental outcomes and disease resistance which together have a significant impact on human health and food security.
Traditional plant breeding strategies to enhance plant traits has been used from the dawn of humanity. In fact, the advantage of breeding to meet the nutritional demands of the population is said to have been a major driver for the Industrial Revolution. However, this approach is slow and may have exhausted its potential. For example, breeding plants for increased tolerance to abiotic stress requires abiotic stress-tolerant founder lines for crossing with other germplasm to develop new abiotic stress-resistant lines. Limited germplasm resources for such founder lines and incompatibility in crosses between distantly related plant species represent significant problems encountered in conventional breeding. Breeding for stress tolerance has often been inadequate given the incidence of stresses and the impact that stresses have on crop yields in most environments of the world.
Genetically modified (GM) crops are increasingly used to improve plant productivity. Herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant transgenic crops have been adopted by many countries as a food security measure. Nevertheless, the fate of GM crops lies on the balance between growing these crops for hunger management, nutrient fulfilment, pest resistance and efficacy of crops, and their secondary effects beyond their target objectives, including multi-trophic effects on non-target species.
The microbiome technology has the potential to minimize this environmental footprint and at the same time sustainably increase the quality and quantity of farm produce with less resource-based inputs.
According to an aspect of some embodiments of the present invention there is provided a preparation comprising a microbial strain selected from the group consisting of:
According to some embodiments of the invention, the functionally homologous strain has substantially the same coding and/or non-coding sequence orientation as that of the microbial strain homologous thereto.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the agricultural trait is selected from the group consisting of increased early vigor, increased biomass establishment, increased photosynthetic capacity, increased leaf transpiration rate, increased biomass accumulation up to VT, increased kernel number per plant, increased yield, increased stem conductance, increased assimilate partitioning, kernel volume, increased kernel weight, increased grain filling duration, increased main ear size and increased cob conductance.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the microbial strain or functionally homologous strain are characterized by the phenotypes disclosed in Tables 2-58 below.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the functionally homologous strain has at least 95% sequence identity to the corresponding sub-genomic sequences of Table 60.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the functionally homologous strain has at least 99.5% sequence identity to a genome of the microbial strain or at least 99.5% sequence identity to a 16S of the microbial strain.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the amount is sufficient to interact, colonize and/or localize in the cultivated plant.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the amount is at least 100 CFU or spores.
According to an aspect of some embodiments of the present invention there is provided a composition comprising the preparation and further comprising an agriculturally effective amount of a compound or composition selected from the group consisting of a fertilizer, an acaricide, a bactericide, a fungicide, an insecticide, a microbicide, a nematicide, a pesticide, a plant growth regulator, a rodenticide, a nutrient.
According to an aspect of some embodiments of the present invention there is provided a formulation comprising the preparation or composition.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the formulation is selected from the group consisting of an emulsion, a colloid, a dust, a granule, a pellet, a powder, a spray and a solution.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the formulation further comprises at least one of a stabilizer, a tackifier, a preservative, a carrier, a surfactant, an anticomplex agent and a combination thereof.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the formulation is substantially stable for at least 180 days at 37° C. or 4° C.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the formulation is a liquid, solid, semi-solid, gel or powder.
According to an aspect of some embodiments of the present invention there is provided a microbial culture comprising the preparation.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the microbial culture is at least 99.1% pure.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the preparation, composition, formulation, microbial culture comprises no more than 10 bacterial strains.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the preparation, composition, formulation, microbial culture is soil-free.
According to an aspect of some embodiments of the present invention there is provided a method of treating a cultivated plant or portion thereof, the method comprising contacting the plant or portion thereof with the preparation, composition or formulation.
According to an aspect of some embodiments of the present invention there is provided a method of improving an agricultural trait of a cultivated plant, the method comprising:
According to some embodiments of the invention, the contacting comprises contacting the plant's surrounding.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the contacting is selected from the group consisting of spraying, immersing, coating, encapsulating, dusting.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the contacting comprises coating.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the microbial strain is present at a concentration of at least 100 CFU or spores per plant or portion thereof after the contacting.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the portion comprises a seed.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the portion comprises a seedling.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the portion comprises a cutting.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the portion comprises a rhizosphere.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the portion comprises a vegetative portion.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the portion comprises foliage.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the method further comprises growing the plant or portion thereof.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the growing is under abiotic stress.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the growing is under drought conditions.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the growing is under non-stress conditions.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the agricultural trait is selected from the group consisting of increased early vigor, increased biomass establishment, increased photosynthetic capacity, increased leaf transpiration rate, increased biomass accumulation up to VT, increased kernel number per plant, increased yield, increased stem conductance, increased assimilate partitioning, kernel volume, increased kernel weight, increased grain filling duration, increased main ear size and increased cob conductance.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the agricultural trait is selected from the group consisting of increased biomass, increased vigor, increased yield, increased resistance to abiotic stress, and increased nitrogen utilization efficiency.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the agricultural trait is selected from the group consisting of increased root biomass, increased root length, increased height, increased shoot length, increased leaf number, increased water use efficiency, increased tolerance to low nitrogen stress, increased grain yield, increased photosynthetic rate, increased tolerance to drought and an increased salt tolerance.
According to an aspect of some embodiments of the present invention there is provided a cultivated plant or portion thereof having been treated with the preparation, composition or formulation.
According to an aspect of some embodiments of the present invention there is provided a composition comprising the preparation, composition, culture or formulation and a cultivated plant or a portion thereof, the plant or portion thereof being heterologous to the microbial strain or culture.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the portion comprises a seed, seedling or cutting.
According to some embodiments of the invention, the microbial strain coats the portion.
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November 27, 2025
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